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Topic: Read Me First: Posting Rules (Read 193164 times)

Happily, this community is growing every day. However, with that growth comes the need for some rules and guidelines for playing nice with each other. Please read and please abide by the rules outlined below. If you do so, you will greatly improve the Celticsblog experience for both yourself and your peers. Unless otherwise noted, all of the following apply to every aspect of this site, including but not limited to the forums, commentary on the front page, private messages, member profiles, and the Celticsblog / Celtics Stuff Live chat rooms. These rules specifically incorporate by reference any other rules "stickied" to the top of a forum, such as the Current Events forum, the Game Threads forum, and the NFL forum, as well as any rules posted under this topic below.

The Basics:

Respect each other at all times.

Keep this site family friendly. No profanity, no sexual content, no illegal activity.

Don't be a jerk, and don't ruin CelticsBlog for others.

Have fun!

For all of the specifics, see our detailed rules below.

At all times:

Respect each other at all times. Personal attacks are not permitted under any circumstances. There is no need for name-calling or harassment of any poster. This includes behavior in all areas of Celticsblog, including forum posts, blog comments and personal messages. While we encourage lively debate there is no reason for anyone to disrespect a fellow poster's ideas.

Keep all commentary civil, and be courteous to all. Please watch your tone. Constructive criticism is welcome, but insults directed towards other users or the site staff will not be tolerated. Coarse / insulting / gloating / condescending / snarky language is not allowed under any circumstances. This prohibition also extends to any off color or inappropriate remarks. Sarcasm can be misinterpreted, so be very careful when using it in a post. Please see below for further examples related to tone. Also be cautious when pointing out spelling or grammatical errors; there is usually no need for this, and such corrections often serve to heighten tensions between posters. This especially is true when referring to non-English speakers.

Do not mock others, including by posting mocking images or smileys / emoticons. Comments such as "worst thread ever" are not permitted.

Do not “lure” or “bait” others towards rule-breaking behavior. This prohibition applies site-wide. Responding to such “bait” in a manner that violates Celticsblog rules is equally inappropriate, and is subject to the same level of punishment.

No “trolling”. Commenting in a thread or elsewhere on the site in a manner that is likely to provoke an angry response from others is not permitted. Posters should appreciate that in many instances, commentary that would otherwise be appropriate may not be appropriate in a specific thread (i.e., bringing up rumors of alleged cocaine use by a beloved player in a tribute thread dedicated to the memory of that player, etc.)

Celticsblog welcomes fans of all teams to engage is respectful commentary and debate. However, attacking or insulting the Celtics, Celtics fans, or Celticsblog moderators will result in an immediate and permanent ban. There will be no tolerance for baiting, trolling, or other disrespectful conduct. Please review the rules posted in the thread below in that regard.

Do not "hijack" threads, either by taking them off topic or making them your own personal sounding post. Generally, it is not appropriate to post in the same thread several times in a row to get your point across.

Do not label or challenge fellow posters -- either individually or collectively -- in a way that is likely to provoke a negative response. Dependent upon context, examples include, but are not limited to, labels such as "fake fan", "bandwagon fan", "not a real fan", "hater", "homer", "koolaid drinker", "troll", "green teamer", etc., or phrases such as "when did you stop beating your wife", "why don't you join [Team X's] blog", etc.

No swearing! There is absolutely no need for swearing in any post. If you can't find another way to express your opinion, buy a thesaurus. Any forum post, blog comment or personal message with profanity, blasphemy, masked profanity, abbreviations referring to profanity, or allusions to profanity (i.e., **** or @#$#, etc.), whether or not caught by the blog filter and no matter how mild, will be deleted, and may result in discipline.

Disparaging comments, stereotypes, or generalizations made in relation to another’s race, gender, ethnicity, religion, handicap, or sexual preference are not permitted. The use of slurs and similar language related to such categories will result in an immediate suspension and/or ban. It is neither necessary nor appropriate to reference a player's race when commenting on that player's play or role.

Suggestive content or innuendo, no matter how mild, is not allowed. Do not start posts related to the sexual desirability and/or attractiveness of actors, celebrities, sportscasters, or other public figures. Do not post comments, images or videos that tend to objectify persons, especially on the basis of their gender or physical characteristics. Any post dealing with such content will be deleted.

Overall try to keep the maturity level of posts up, and keep in mind that this should be a place you want to come back to daily and want to tell your friends about. Crude, sexist, lewd, racist or offensive humor or content is not allowed. Crude nicknames -- i.e., Kobe "The Rapist" Bryant -- are not appropriate.

Do not engage in gossip or discuss rumors regarding the love lives of players. Rumors about the escapades of Delonte West, Pau Gasol's wife, etc., belong on TMZ.com, not CelticsBlog.

It is unacceptable to behave in a dishonest or deceitful manner with the staff or fellow Celticsblog members. Acts of dishonesty -- such as misleading the staff, lying for one's own advantage, cheating in fantasy games organized on Celticsblog, etc. -- may result in a permanent ban from the site.

The Celticsblog staff reserves the right to revoke the posting privileges of any member who is systematically negating the ability of others to enjoy this site.

If you feel a post violates any of these rules, do not resort to "self help"; please use the "report to moderator" link to notify the staff to any violation.

Further Posting Rules:

Keep all posts and comments on-topic.

Do not publish images or video that contain adult content, sexually oriented material, or might otherwise be considered offensive. If linking or posting a video that contains profanity, please clearly note so in your post. Any post containing inappropriate material as noted above will be deleted, with the poster being subject to a warning and/or action against their account.

Do not discuss illegal activities. Our server is hosted in the USA and so is subject to US law. Please do not expose us to any unnecessary legal liability.

When quoting from material that is not made freely available (i.e., ESPN.com "Insider" content, etc.), do not quote the entirety of the material. Posting brief snippets and summaries of the material is appropriate; posting lengthy quotations is not. Please post a link whenever citing to online material, whether insider content or otherwise.

Try not to get excessive with caps/punctuation in your posts such as "Greg Kite IS the best CELTIC of All-Time!!!!!!!" This is not necessary, no matter how much you may like Greg Kite. Posts that are in all-caps will be deleted.

No useless posts or comments, i.e., one liners/thread bumping, drive-bys, quotations of others without commentary, "+1" or especially "-1" without commentary, etc., etc.

Do not use more than four layers of "nested" quotations in a post.

Make sure that the information you're posting is accurate, to the best of your ability. Do not intentionally post lies or misinformation.

Do not start threads or make posts for the purpose of "calling out" other posters. Retrospective threads are fine, "I told you so" threads aimed at making others look bad are not.

Do not post the contents of a private message in the forums or elsewhere without the permission of the poster sending you such message. If a private message is inappropriate, please report its contents to the staff, via private message or the "report to a moderator" option.

Make sure you have read the parent article/post completely before posting a reply.

Use your own words. If you wish to use the words of somebody else, quote them, citing the source. Plagiarism is unethical and is illegal in many countries.

All forum posts must be in English, unless posted in a specific international forum. If posting in a international forum, please use the language of that forum, and not English. Occasional use of slang / "tweet speak" / "ebonics" / "street talk" is allowed, but this should not be your primary posting style.

No commercial advertising is permitted. Any posts or personal message deemed to be self promotion, advertising, or spam can and will be removed. NO SPAM - NO ADVERTISING. If you have a website or blog you would like to promote on Celticsblog, please send Jeff or a member of the Administration a link to the site, and a brief description of the content thereof. Do not post any links to such site until permission has been received.

Celticsblog.com is not a ticket broker or exchange. If members have extra tickets, they may start a thread related to their availability in the Tickets and Meet Ups forum (a subforum of the Game Threads forum). Posters can then private message that member to inquire about the tickets. All such threads will be locked. Any transaction facilitated through Celticsblog.com servers is made at the member's risk; Celticsblog.com assumes no responsibility or liability for any transaction completed through private message or otherwise. Members should alert the staff if they believe that another member is using the private messaging system for illegal or unscrupulous activities. Due to the illegal nature of scalping in many States, threads advertising tickets for above face value will be deleted.

This is not the place to settle a commercial disagreement or to be a 'wall of shame'. Any posts deemed to be of this nature will be removed. Settle your disputes in private please.

Please respect other posters' privacy, and do not speculate about their whereabouts in public. If you are curious about where a member has been, it is best to contact that member via PM.

Post your comment/question to the most appropriate place. Any posts deemed to be in the wrong forum will be moved. Do not cross-post the same question in multiple places.

Check that your question has not been answered anywhere else on the site. Use the main site search feature or that of the forums.

Include as much information as you can when seeking help. This may include logs and command line output. Nobody will be able to help you if you don't give sufficient detail.

Thank those who help you. Acknowledgment of a helpful suggestion not only placates those who helped you, it may also help others with a similar problem. All those who have been helped on this forum are invited to help other users by responding to their questions when they know the answer and/or to consider donating to the project.

Links:

You may insert web, mail and/or ftp links into any post, blog comment or personal message. However, inserting links with the intention of leading somebody to spam, warez, crackz, phishing schemes or any other illegal activity. is absolutely prohibited. Doing so will get you banned from this website and possibly reported to authorities.

Do not link to any site that contains adult content, sexually oriented material, or might otherwise be considered offensive. Any post containing an inappropriate link will be deleted and the poster will receive a warning and/or adverse action to their account.

Do not link or cite to sites that allow illegal file-sharing, streaming or broadcasting of copyrighted material.

Starting New Threads:

Before creating a new topic, please check to make sure it is not posted elsewhere. If a pre-existing thread already exists, feel free to reopen that discussion by posting your opinion. This also includes new topics that are relevant to threads that already exist. (i.e., All game comments belong in the game thread.)

All new forum threads should be worthy of their own topic. Meaningless/irrelevant threads will be locked or deleted by a moderator.

Please use descriptive thread titles. Members of the blog should be able to have a general idea about the content of a thread before clicking on it. Try to summarize the topic briefly in the title, and elaborate in the message itself. Do not add false or misleading information just to get attention. An example of a bad subject would be "HELP ME". A good subject might be, "Foo rashes when I do bar". Misleading and/or non-descriptive thread titles will be edited and/or deleted.

Posting misleading thread titles for the purpose of eliciting a negative reaction from Celtics fans (i.e., KG tore his ACL!!!) is inappropriate, and will result in an automatic suspension and/or ban. This rule will be relaxed from 12:00am until 12:00pm EST on April 1 of each year. On such date, each poster may make a maximum of one "April Fools" post.

Thread titles that use excessive capitalization or punctuation are not allowed. Thread titles that are in all-caps will be locked and/or deleted. There will be no exceptions to this rule.

If a previous thread has been locked, use discretion in starting a new thread on the same topic. If the thread was locked for reasons other than its content, starting a new discussion is generally appropriate. If the reason for the lock was directly related to discussion of inappropriate or inflammatory material, do not start a new thread on the subject. If you have any questions about the propriety of reopening a thread, please contact a member of the staff.

If you have a trade/draft idea you wish to share, please note it as such in the thread title.

If you wish to post a rumor, please note it as such in the thread heading. Also please provide a source in the heading and a link (if available) in the message. Do not make up rumors or post from fake sources; users who do so are subject to discipline.

All reports of "insiders" and "sources" posted ion the blog should be taken with a grain of salt. Such posts should be confined to the Trade Ideas and Rumors section of the forums. While such posts are worthy of discussion strictly as trade ideas, it is not appropriate for "insiders" to use this forum to feed their own ego-driven agendas. If the staff determines, in its sole discretion, that a thread has been posted for an improper purpose, that thread will be locked and/or deleted.

The staff may lock any thread, for any reason. Reasons for locked threads shall include, but not be limited to, conduct in the opening post that violates our rules, the repeated failure of members to adhere to staff warnings, discussions that have gone far afield of the original subject matter, repeated negative and inflamed responses to the subject matter of a thread, etc.

The Front Page:

There are three options for fans to contribute on the front page of the blog: live comments, fanposts, and fanshots. From time to time, the staff will "elevate" worthy Fanposts and Fanshots by showcasing them in the main blog space.

Keep the front page clean. Profanity, inappropriate or lewd photos or links, discussion of politics, or other content that violates our rules will result in immediate discipline.

Content on the front page should be confined to discussion of the Celtics and/or the NBA; off topic content should be posted only in the forums. This includes criticism of the site and/or site staff.

Live comments should be left in response to main blog posts or game threads. Please stay on topic as much as possible when leaving a live comment.

Fanposts are members' own personal blog posts. Fanposts should be at least 75 words long, and should be as substantive and insightful as possible. "Shout outs" and "quick thoughts" should be confined to the Celticsblog forums, accessible through the top menu bar.

Fanshots are pictures, videos, quotes, and links that you think others might be interested in.

User-posted front page content can be deleted at any time for any reason. Discipline on the front page will extend to other areas of the site, such as the forums and the chat room.

The Off Topic Forum:

Celticsblog has an “Off Topic” forum, where discussion of topics unrelated to the Celtics and the sport of basketball are permitted. Please keep all such discussions confined to this forum to the extent possible. It is not necessary and/or appropriate for posters to enter the Off Topic forum and tell others to confine their discussion to basketball.

While the Celticsblog staff encourages discussion of a wide variety of topics, threads related to certain topics may be locked or deleted at any time because the staff deems them to be of a contentious, inflammatory, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate nature. Decisions related to such threads will solely be in the staff’s discretion.

Due to the sensitive nature of many of the topics in this forum, please pay extra attention to keeping all commentary civil. Do not use disparaging nicknames for public figures or entities, and do not caricature the arguments of others. Such conduct only serves to inflame discussion, rather than add to it, and is accordingly inappropriate.

The Current Events Forum

Discussion of politics, religion and current events should be confined to the Current Events Forum, a child board of the Off Topic Forum. Discussion of politics and related subjects on the front page or in the chat room are prohibited at all times.

Do not engage in partisan attacks, unsupported generalizations, or mockery of opposing viewpoints. All posts must add content to the conversation, and all claims must be supported by facts and/or an argument. Posts such as "Bush sucks!" or "Democrats are leftist Communists!" are not permitted.

The staff may lock or delete any thread, for any reason. Threads that involve illegal or particularly inflammatory topics, such as abortion, legalization of drugs, or 9/11 conspiracy theories will be locked on a preemptive basis. Threads about personal drug use are similarly prohibited, and members should use caution in starting threads about conspiracy theories in other areas. While discussion of other potentially inflammatory topics such as race and religion are allowed, such discussions will be closely monitored. As such, members should tread lightly when discussing such matters. Do not criticize others' religion or religion in general; if you can't discuss religion without criticizing the religion or those who practice it, then don't discuss it at all.

Participation in the Current Events Forum is on a discretionary basis. Posting privileges in the forum can be revoked at any time, for any reason. There will be very little tolerance for rule-breaking in this forum.

Violation of site rules within the Current Events Forum will result in automatic and mandatory suspension from that forum. Further discipline, including suspension or banning from Celticsblog on a site-wide basis, will be at the discretion of the staff.

Any poster who wishes to "opt out" of the Current Events Forum may do so. To disable Current Events posts from showing up in your Latest Forums Topic menu and to disable your access to the forum, contact Roy H., who will remove your access privileges.

Celticsblog Chat:

Access to the chat room is a privilege, not a right.

Users may be suspended or banned from the chat room at any time, for any reason, at the sole discretion of the chat room moderators.

Due to the "real time" nature of the chat room, users should use extra care in keeping all commentary civil and mature.

Inappropriate conduct in the chat room may result in discipline on a site-wide basis.

Signatures:

May contain one image such as a banner, but ONLY if the image used is no larger than 505x167 pixels and 60KB in file size.

Must be setup in your Profile (link up the top, next to logout), and not manually added to your messages.

May not contain any pricing, sales, product, etc. details.

May contain a maximum of two smilies, or one animated smiley.

May include two clickable links, URL's or mailto:

May not include .gifs or other animation

Only exact URLs are allowed, i.e., not < a href="www.domain.com">LOOK HERE

May include up to two colors. Hyperlink color is set by the forum and is not counted as a color.

Maximum font size cannot be larger than normal.

Must be kept to a maximum of four lines (at 1024 resolution).

May not contain links to other threads or posts. Linking to an outside website is only appropriate with the permission of the staff.

Your signature is your signature. It is not for sale or rent.

Signatures should not include lewd, sexual, violent, or offensive images.

Signatures shouldn't be used for purposes of "calling out" other members, or embarassing them

Any signature that is offensive or insulting to the Celticsblog staff or members of the blog is prohibited.

These rules may be relaxed at the discretion of the staff, especially during CelticsBlog events (such as the CB Draft, etc.) To apply for a permanent waiver of these requirements, please contact a member of the administration.

We reserve the right to ask you to change and/or remove your signature at any time, for any reason.

Avatars:

The maximum allowed size of an avatar is 80x80 pixels. The maximum file size is 20KB. Anything larger will be removed.

Avatars may not include .gifs or other animation

Avatars should not include lewd, sexual, violent, political or offensive images.

Any avatar that is offensive or insulting to the Celticsblog staff or members of the blog is prohibited.

We reserve the right to ask you to change and/or remove your avatar at any time, for any reason.

Images, media and other file attachments:

You may include one image in a post as long as that image is no larger than 460x460 pixels and 20KB in file size.

You may provide links to off-site media files, but you may ONLY embed one into a post if it is NOT autoplay.

The inclusion of any malicious media files, scripts or links in a post will bring the gravest of consequences upon you. You have our Webmaster's word on this.

Member Profiles

All material posted in member profiles -- including but not limited to autobiographical information, comments, pictures, videos, etc. -- is subject to the Celticsblog rules, regardless of whether such profile is "hidden".

Members may post up to 34 images in their profiles. Such pictures should be compliant with Celticsblog rules, and should not include lewd, sexual, violent, illegal or offensive images.

For best results, member profiles should be viewed in "wide" viewing mode. Youtube and videos should be no larger than 320 x 260 px.

As a reminder, always be careful about sharing personal information online. Pictures and personal information are posted at a member's own risk, and without liability to Celticsblog or its staff.

We reserve the right to ask you to change and/or remove any portion of your profile at any time, for any reason.

Celticsblog Accounts:

Participation on Celticsblog is on an invitation basis only. All users on Celticsblog agree to abide by the site rules, the Terms of Use, and the Celticsblog registration agreement (see below). The Celticsblog staff may revoke a user’s posting privileges at any time, on a temporary or permanent basis.

Only one active account per person is permitted. The only people authorized to have multiple accounts here are administrators and moderators who will use those for testing purposes. Anyone else found to be using multiple accounts will be banned from this website if they persist in using such multiple accounts.

Generally, Celticsblog does not allow members to change screen names. If you would like to post under a different name, please contact the staff in order to close your old account, at which point you will be permitted to open a new account under a different screen name. In certain limited instances, the staff may approve a modification of a member's screen name without that member starting a new account, if the previous member's identity is readily recognizable by his/her new name (i.e., changing from "redzdeadbabyredzdead" to "redz"). Accounts may be locked or closed by the staff, but they will not be deleted under any circumstances.

Attempting to circumvent a suspension or other staff action through the creation of a new user account shall result in an immediate and permanent ban from Celticsbog, without exception.

Accessing the site via a proxy server is not permitted without permission of the staff.

If you have lost your password, please email a member of the administration, and you can be given a new password.

Trollish, lewd, or otherwise inappropriate screen names will result in banning of your account.

Do not Astroturf or pretend to be/represent somebody else. Your account will be deleted if found to be in breach of this rule.

You are responsible for what is posted from your account. Excuses like "it was my brother / sister / roommate that was breaking the rules" are not valid. If others have access to your computer, make sure that they do not have access to your password.

Conspiracy Toward Damage:

No site members or visitors are allowed, either individually or collectively, to use CelticsBlog to conspire to launch unauthorized (as in, without formal approval from CelticsBlog and its staff) and/or illegal collaborations, gatherings, demonstrations, boycotts, protests and other equivalent activities. This includes activities that potentially might result in physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, domestic, organizational, civic, cultural or other injuries and/or losses to other individuals or groups.

CelticsBlog and its staff retain all rights available to them to notify potential targets of such behavior and authorities relevant to the offenses perceived by CelticsBlog and its staff. CelticsBlog and its staff also retain all rights available to them to seek both civil and criminal prosecution toward individuals, groups or organizations in such matters as may be pertinent on behalf of parties perceived to have been damaged (including CelticsBlog itself and its staff) as result of the behaviors defined in this statement.

Attempts to hack or manipulate Celticsblog code, or attempts to use information gained on Celticsblog in a manner other than intended by Celticsblog management, will result in an immediate ban. "Cyberstalking" is not permitted under any circumstances.

Please do not attempt to recruit or "poach" members from Celticsblog for another blog without permission from Jeff or another member of the staff. Additionally, while criticism of Celticsblog is always permitted, attempts to "bash" or damage Celticsblog or its reputation off-site will be frowned upon. Members engaged in such behavior (or other inappropriate behavior aimed at the staff or members of CelticsBlog) may, at the discretion of the staff, face discipline on this site.

Interactions with Celticsblog Staff:

Respect and obey moderators and administrators at all times. Do not challenge a staff member's authority or dare them to ban you; such challenges will result in discipline.

If a member of the staff asks you to do something that you find objectionable, the proper course of action is to comply, and then write either that staff member or another member of the staff a private message indicating your disagreement, and the basis thereof.

Celticsblog rules, and the application thereof, can be discussed in the dedicated thread stickied at the top of the Comments / Suggestions forum. All such commentary should be confined to that thread; it is inappropriate to start a new thread for purposes of “calling out” the staff, either by name or collectively.

Do not delete or edit out warnings / staff edits that have been made to your post without staff permission. Doing so is a suspendable offense.

Please do not comment on discipline received by yourself or other members. Similarly, the staff will not comment on such matters publicly.

No matter what you may believe to the contrary, it is highly unlikely that anything done on this blog is violating your First Amendment rights. The full text of the First Amendment can be found here. Nothing in such Amendment applies to the restriction of speech by non-government entities or actors, including the staff of this blog.

Please use the “alert a moderator” button to alert the staff to any inappropriate content or discussion. If you have a question related to the blog or the blog rules, or have a general comment about a thread, it is more appropriate to reach out to a member of the staff via private message rather than via the "alert a moderator" function.

Failure to abide by these rules may result in the editing, negative moderation or deletion of your post, comment or PM. We reserve the right to suspend and/or ban abusers from the site without prior warning. We reserve the right to change these rules at any time, without notice. Except in extreme circumstances, rules will be given prospective, rather than retroactive, effect.

You agree, through your use of this forum, that you will not post any material which is false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, adult material, or otherwise in violation of any International or United States Federal law. You also agree not to post any copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or you have written consent from the owner of the copyrighted material. Spam, flooding, advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are also forbidden on this forum.

Note that it is impossible for the staff or the owners of this forum to confirm the validity of posts. Please remember that we do not actively monitor the posted messages, and as such, are not responsible for the content contained within. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information presented. The posted messages express the views of the author, and not necessarily the views of this forum, its staff, its subsidiaries, or this forum's owner. Anyone who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to notify an administrator or moderator of this forum immediately. The staff and the owner of this forum reserve the right to remove objectionable content, within a reasonable time frame, if they determine that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, please realize that they may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately. This policy applies to member profile information as well.

You remain solely responsible for the content of your posted messages. Furthermore, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the owners of this forum, any related websites to this forum, its staff, and its subsidiaries. The owners of this forum also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or any other related information collected on this service) in the event of a formal complaint or legal action arising from any situation caused by your use of this forum.

You have the ability, as you register, to choose your username. We advise that you keep the name appropriate. With this user account you are about to register, you agree to never give your password out to another person except an administrator, for your protection and for validity reasons. You also agree to NEVER use another person's account for any reason. We also HIGHLY recommend you use a complex and unique password for your account, to prevent account theft.

After you register and login to this forum, you will be able to fill out a detailed profile. It is your responsibility to present clean and accurate information. Any information the forum owner or staff determines to be inaccurate or vulgar in nature will be removed, with or without prior notice. Appropriate sanctions may be applicable.

Please note that with each post, your IP address is recorded, in the event that you need to be banned from this forum or your ISP contacted. This will only happen in the event of a major violation of this agreement.

Also note that the software places a cookie, a text file containing bits of information (such as your username and password), in your browser's cache. This is ONLY used to keep you logged in/out. The software does not collect or send any other form of information to your computer.

Logged

All the negativity in this town sucks. It sucks, and it stinks, and it sucks. - Rick Pitino

By and large, both Celtics and Lakers fans here on the blog have been conducting themselves admirably. As we get more and more new members, however, it makes sense to emphasize our expected code of conduct for all fans.

1) Treat them with respect, please. Lakers fans are allowed to come on here and argue the merits of their team, and so long as they do so within the rules of this site, they are welcome here and will be protected by the staff as much as Celtics fans. (Ugh... defending Lakers fans. It kind of curdles the stomach, doesn't it? )

2) Good-natured banter is okay, and please, argue vigorously. Do not, however, cross a line; we expect you to act civilly. The *last* thing the staff wants to do is to suspend anybody these next two weeks.

3) Please report the trolls. The staff will be on the lookout, but rather than responding to baiting -- which only gets you in trouble -- please just ignore them and report them to the staff. Chances are somebody is going to be online to take care of them.

4) Enjoy the series! I never thought I'd see another one Lakers/Celtics series again. This is as good as it gets in the NBA!

1) Welcome aboard. It's good to have more passionate, if wrong-minded, fans on the site.

2) Please read our Posting Rules. Things are enforced pretty tightly here, but the most important rules is "respect others at all times". If you do that, you'll be fine here.

3) Please do not troll or bait. The first example of such behavior will result in a ban. Inevitably, that will happen with a few of you (as it did in the Pistons series) but we're all hopeful it doesn't have to.

4) In selecting a screen name, do not bait our membership. Screen names along the lines of "Lakers_sweep" or "Celtslose" will result in a ban from our site. It is fine to identify yourself as a Lakers fan (ie, "Lakerfan" or "blue_and_gold_lover"), so long as you do not denigrate the Celtics or otherwise insult Celtics fans with your name.

5) Stay on topic, please. There's no need - and indeed, its inappropriate -- to reiterate that you think the Lakers will win in 5, or that you think Kobe dominates KG, in every thread.

6) Prepare yourself to be traumatized. That has very little to do with Celticsblog, and much more to do with the Celtics. The entire world seems to be underestimating this team, and you're about to get a hurting.

Let's make this as fun as possible, guys! It doesn't get too much better as an internet sports fan. Hopefully, a new generation of sports fans is about to learn why this is the greatest rivalry in basketball!

Lakers fans are allowed to post on this blog. They're not allowed to troll or bait, but they're allowed to legitimately make points, so long as it is context appropriate. Insults aimed at our team or our players will not be tolerated -- and will be an automatic ban -- but legitimate debate is acceptable. We're taking care of the bad Lakers fans, but cut the intelligent and articulate ones some slack.

Do not label others trolls, or make other personal attacks. You must abide by the rules at all times, regardless of who you're corresponding with. All that labeling posters results in is the destroying of interesting dialog. If somebody is trolling, report them to the staff.

I don't want to have to remind people again. This is a big week for us, and the absolute last thing I want to do is come down harshly on Celtics fans, because they allowed themselves to be baited. Just use the "report to a moderator" button, please.

By request, I'm bumping this thread. Feel free to substitute "Bulls", "Magic", etc. for "Lakers" above. These are really just a reminder of our every day rules, for anybody who hasn't seen them / read them yet.

Logged

All the negativity in this town sucks. It sucks, and it stinks, and it sucks. - Rick Pitino

Do you even watch the games? I'm surprised a real fan would say that . . .

Quote

Worst trade idea ever . . .

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This thread is a massive FAIL . . .

The above are examples, because I didn't want to signal anybody out individually. However, statements like those above violate our rules, because they're inherently disrespectful and devolve debate.

I'm sure every single one of us has come across a thread before and thought "What the heck is this idiot talking about?" It's fine to think that, but when choosing whether or not to post in the thread, please use discretion. Basically, follow the "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" rule.

It's very possible to debate without belittling or mocking others. There are going to be times when we all vigorously disagree with others. That's completely fine, just please remember that when debating, things have to remain civil.

Basically, we don't want to have people leaving here with their feelings hurt. Let's all remember that we're on the same side here.

Lately, several members have seemingly forgotten CelticsBlog's rules and standards of decorum. There have been literally dozens of posts along the lines of "This thread should be deleted" / "This thread is moronic" / "I wish we could give negative TPs."

Usually, these posts are in response to a thread that in some way criticizes a Celtic, which in turn resorts to the exceedingly immature "I'm a bigger Celtic fan that you" peeing contests. Many posters have apparently adopted a viewpoint that it's okay to gang up on people simply because that person doesn't have a popular opinion. That couldn't be further from the truth.

Over the last several weeks, the staff has posted dozens of warnings, which have been largely ignored. Let this serve as a final warning, then: if you personally attack somebody by using language of the type cited above, you will be suspended. It doesn't matter if this is a first offense, it doesn't matter if 14 other people in the thread were doing the same thing. Point blank, suspensions will be given, no exceptions.

Nobody is happy about this solution, but we've been left with no choice. If people don't want to comply with the rules, and want to repeatedly ignore staff warnings, then we're going to have to be stricter in our enforcement. We appreciate the hundreds and thousands of members who are able to disagree civilly; for those who can't, it's time to modify your behavior, or move on.

1) Observe Celticsblog Posting Rules at all times. You can see them here: Posting Rules

2) Don't make debates personal. Always phrase things in the objective. 'Youre letting our personal differences affect your perception of my team' is a no-no. If you feel like there is a personal bias against you, refer it to the commishes or a moderator, or attempt to settle it diplomatically in private. Public feuds will have no place here.

3) Do not condescend to other posters. 'Do you even understand basic math?' is a no-no. 'Do you even understand rebound rate?' Is a no-no. 'This is a simple idea, you should have no problem understanding it' is a no-no. If you legitimately think that people don't understand something, explain it. But don't mock others, and don't accuse others of willful obstinacy. People won't always agree with you, or how you think things should work, get over it and move on.

4) Do not willfully go against the wishes of the commissioners and/or moderators. If they say, 'Please take this type of thing to PM', take it to Private Message, or drop it. If they say, 'Please drop this, it's counter productive', drop it, or take it to private message. If you disagree with a commish's request, bring it to the commish, or another commish, or a mod, privately.

5) Do not bait other posters/players. 'Thanks for making me laugh, no way is Seattle a top 5 team' is a no-no.

6) Do not mock other players. 'The fact that you can't even understand the basic premise behind per-36 stats goes a long way to explaining why you drafted Michael Beasley in the 3rd round.' is a no-no.

7) All drafts are subject to staff approval. Commissioners are expected to coordinate with the CelticsBlog staff regarding timing of drafts, and should clear draft rules with the staff. All commissioners, including those on the CelticsBlog staff, are expected to enforce rules and to moderate the draft in a consistent and fair manner.

9) The basic goal of all drafts is to have fun. There is an expectation that drafts will be run with principles of fair play in mind. Rules shall be clear and as evenly applied as possible, and will not be changed retroactively. Punishment, if necessary, shall be consistent, and will include a chance for the alleged rule breaker to be heard. All Commissioners have power to act in the best interests of their league, but only in extreme circumstances that compromise the basic fairness of the league.

Except for those last two, these are all already, again, in the Posting Rules. 'So why make a point of posting them again here?', asks someone.

That's because we, as moderators, have always faced a sticky dilemma with these drafts. Basically, we want the games to continue, we want you guys to get somewhat 'into it', and that inevitably results in the competitive natures of all of us coming out, at least a little. The problem is when it comes out too much. People get persecution complexes, and predictably real, or, nearly always imagined, vendettas manifest. Some people very suddenly, for lack of a better phrasing, become irrational jerks, often in such a manner that

A) Means the game becomes less fun for those as yet unaffected by the 'rage virus', and

B) Often results in the quitting, banning, or even suspension of the infected, which in the very least short-circuits the game an in the worst, completely throws the game off its rails.

So now we're introducing a new way we're going to moderate these games. We're making the guidelines public so you know where you stand, and there is no misunderstandings about the punishments. The goal here with a tiered warning system is to make sure that problems are headed off before they start, without having to resort to more severe forms of punishment.

This is a 3-strikes and you're out policy. Three private warnings from commissioners or moderators will result in you losing privileges to access the drafts. This will apply across all CB Drafts, and will not only be applicable to the one you lost privilege to. You can petition for reinstatement later on, but it will be a good long time and a decent amount of convincing to let you back in the fold.

This also doesn't mean that you will always get the full 3-strikes. As always, moderators reserve the right to lay down whatever penalties they see fit for posts that go above and beyond, so don't think this new set of rules means you get two free viscous pot shots at whoever you want to be as much of a jerk as you want. It doesn't.

We don't want to take all the teeth out of the draft, but too often things are allowed to escalate in the name of allowing the game to take its course, and in the end the only thing we can really do according to site rules is a lengthy suspension or outright ban. We don't want that, you don't want that. This is supposed to help.